Alice Roberts
Alice May Roberts (born 1973) is a British anatomist, osteoarchaeologist, anthropologist, television presenter, and author. Best known for her TV appearances in the BBC series Coast, Dr Alice Roberts: Don't Die Young, and The Incredible Human Journey, she has also appeared as an expert osteoarchaeologist on the Channel 4 television series Time Team and its spin-off show Extreme Archaeology. Early life and education Roberts was born in Bristol in 1973 and attended The Red Maids' School in Westbury-on-Trym, in the north of Bristol. She was a medical student at University of Wales College of Medicine (then part of the University of Wales, now part of Cardiff University) and qualified in 1997 as a medical doctor (MB BCh) having gained an intercalated BSc in anatomy. Academic career After graduating in 1997, Roberts went on to work as a junior doctor in South Wales, and from 1998 as an anatomy demonstrator in the Anatomy Department at the University of Bristol, becoming a lecturer there in 1999. She spent more than seven years working part-time on her PhD in palaeopathology, the study of disease in ancient human remains. She worked as senior teaching fellow at Bristol, where her main roles were teaching clinical anatomy, embryology, and physical anthropology as well as researching osteoarchaeology and paleopathology. She is working towards becoming a professor of anatomy. She is currently an anatomist, author and broadcaster, and since August 2009 has been a Visiting Fellow in both the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Department of Anatomy. TV career A presenter on various science documentary programmes, Roberts first appeared on television in the Time Team Live 2001 episode,Time Team Live 2001 working on Anglo-Saxon burials at Breamore, Hampshire. She has since served as a bone specialist and general presenter in many episodes, including the spin-off series Extreme Archaeology. In August 2006, the Time Team Special episode Big Royal Dig investigated the archaeology of Britain's royal palaces, and Roberts was one of the main presenters for this programme. She is also one of the regular co-presenters of BBC geographical and environmental series Coast.Coast – BBC website Now a familiar face on British TV, Alice Roberts wrote and presented a BBC Two series on anatomy and health entitled Dr Alice Roberts: Don't Die Young, which screened from January 2007. More recently, she presented a five-part BBC Two series on human evolution and early human migrations entitled The Incredible Human Journey, beginning on 10 May 2009.BBC - Press Office - The BBC's Darwin Season press pack: BBC Two. 21 January 2009. Accessed 12 February 2009. She is now working on a second series on human migration . In September 2009, she co-presented (with Mark Hamilton) A Necessary Evil?, one-hour documentary about Burke and Hare murders.'A Necessary Evil?' - BBC page In August 2010 she presented another one-hour documentary on BBC Four, Wild Swimming, inspired by Roger Deakin’s book Waterlog.Wild Swimming BBC site, retrieved 14 August 2010 . Roberts will also present a four part BBC Two series on archaeology in August 2010, Digging For Britain. Personal life Roberts lives near Bristol with her daughter Phoebe (born 2009) and husband David Stevens, whom she met in Cardiff in 1997 when she was a medical student and he was an archaeology student, and married in 2000. BBC Coast – Bio's of ExpertsFowler, M., "Just Another Animal? - Dr Alice Roberts discovers how our ancestors colonised the planet." TV Choice magazine, 9–15 May 2009. She is a vegetarian. Her conspicuous dyed red hair (its precise shade varies at different times from a comparatively subtle brown with mild copper tint to bright orange) was often commented on by viewers - in more recent TV appearances her hair colour has changed to a more natural look.Channel 4 – Time Team biographyAlice Roberts Site Gallery She enjoys watercolour painting, surfing, cycling, gardening and pub quizzes. She owns an old lime green Volkswagen van which has appeared in some episodes of Coast, and which she bought second-hand from Mick Aston, professor of landscape archaeology at the University of Bristol and lead archaeologist of the Time Team TV series. Roberts is an organiser of the Cheltenham Science Festival and school outreach programmes within the University of Bristol's Medical Sciences Division. In March 2007, she hosted the Bristol Medical School's charity dance show Clicendales 2007, to raise funds for the charity CLIC Sargent.[http://www.galenicals.org.uk/social/photo_albums/clicendales2007.php Clicendales 2007 – University of Bristol] Selected publications Books * * * Scientific articles * * * References External links * Alice Roberts' personal website * Alice Roberts' Facebook page * * University of Bristol, Department of Anatomy * Channel 4 – Time Team biography * Channel 4 – Extreme Archaeology biography * 'Alice's Inspiration' – BBC Science Week 2009 interview * Interview with Alice Roberts for the Journal of Unlikely Science * Journey of Mankind Genetic Map - the science behind the BBC Documentary 'The Incredible Human Journey' with Dr Alice Roberts * The Incredible Human Journey, review in the Leicester Mercury * Roberts interviewed by Robert Llewellyn on Carpool, 25 September 2009